Vance arrives in Israel as US seeks to strengthen Gaza ceasefire settlement

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Israel as a part of the Trump administration’s efforts to strengthen the Gaza ceasefire settlement.

He’s anticipated to stress Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to start negotiations on long-term points towards a everlasting finish to the battle with Hamas.

The 2 US particular envoys who helped negotiate the deal, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, additionally held talks with Netanyahu on Monday.

His visits come after an outbreak of violence on Sunday that threatened to derail the 12-day truce. Israel mentioned a Hamas assault killed two troopers, triggering Israeli airstrikes that killed dozens of Palestinians.

US President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that the ceasefire was nonetheless on monitor, but additionally warned Hamas that it will be “eradicated” if it violated the settlement.

Trump is claimed to have despatched his deputy and envoys to Israel to take care of momentum and push for the beginning of talks on the vital second part of his 20-point Gaza peace plan.

It will contain the creation of an interim authorities in Palestinian territory, the deployment of a global stabilization drive, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israel had beforehand mentioned it will not take part in such negotiations till Hamas returned all the deceased hostages it was holding.

Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are additionally attempting to make sure that the ceasefire settlement, which relies on the primary part of the peace plan, doesn’t collapse first.

The New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying they were concerned that Israel’s prime minister would “walk away” from the deal. and resume an all-out assault towards Hamas.

Netanyahu advised the Israeli parliament on Monday that he would talk about “safety challenges” and “political alternatives” with Vance throughout his go to.

He additionally mentioned Israeli forces dropped 153 tons of bombs on Gaza in response to what he known as a “flagrant” ceasefire violation by Hamas on Sunday.

“Certainly one of our arms holds a weapon, the opposite is outstretched for peace,” he mentioned. “You make peace with the robust, not with the weak. Immediately Israel is stronger than ever.”

The Israeli navy blamed Hamas for an anti-tank missile assault on Sunday that killed two Israeli troopers in southern Gaza after which carried out dozens of strikes throughout the territory that hospitals mentioned killed at the least 45 Palestinians.

Subsequently, the Israeli navy said that it was resuming enforcement of the ceasefire, whereas Hamas said that it remained dedicated to the settlement.

Nevertheless, 4 Palestinians had been reportedly killed by Israeli hearth east of Gaza Metropolis on Monday. The Israeli navy said that its troops fired at “terrorists” who crossed the so-called “Yellow Line”, which demarcates the world nonetheless occupied by Israeli forces.

Trump later advised reporters on the White Home: “We made a cope with Hamas that they are going to be superb. They will behave. They will be good.”

“If they don’t seem to be, we are going to go and eradicate them if essential. They are going to be eradicated and so they comprehend it,” he added.

Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, who’s in Cairo, insisted that his group and different Palestinian factions are dedicated to the ceasefire settlement and “decided to implement it absolutely to the tip.”

“What we heard from the mediators and the US president reassures us that the battle in Gaza is over,” he advised Egypt’s Al-Qahera Information TV.

Hayya additionally mentioned that Hamas is severe about handing over the our bodies of all deceased hostages nonetheless in Gaza, regardless of dealing with what he described as “excessive problem” in its efforts to get better them from underneath the rubble as a result of an absence of specialised gear.

In the course of the evening, Israeli authorities confirmed that Hamas had handed over the physique of one other deceased Israeli hostage to the Purple Cross in Gaza.

The stays had been recognized as these of Tal Haimi, 41, who the Israeli navy mentioned was killed in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak through the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7 that triggered the battle.

Because of this 13 of the 28 our bodies of hostages held in Gaza when the ceasefire got here into drive on October 10 have already been returned.

Twenty residing Israeli hostages had been additionally launched final week in alternate for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.

There was anger in Israel that Hamas has not but returned all of its lifeless hostages, with the Israeli prime minister’s workplace saying the group “was obliged to meet its commitments”.

In the meantime, the UN World Meals Program harassed that sustaining the ceasefire was “very important” for the supply of important humanitarian support to the territory.

Because the ceasefire got here into impact, 530 WFP vans have entered Gaza with greater than 6,700 tons of meals. That was sufficient to feed virtually 500,000 folks for 2 weeks, spokeswoman Abeer Atefa advised a information convention in Geneva.

Nevertheless, she mentioned the company was unable to fulfill its every day goal of two,000 tonnes of provides as a result of not all crossings into the territory had been open.

Solely two crossings – Kerem Shalom and Kissufim – had been working, neither of them positioned within the north, the place the meals state of affairs remained “extraordinarily dire”, he added.

Some specialised dietary dietary supplements for kids and pregnant girls had been distributed within the North and South, however large-scale deliveries weren’t doable.

Ms. Atefa mentioned that within the south of the territory, the place folks may now entry meals in security and dignity, there had been no looting of WFP provides.

However she added that many individuals usually ate solely a small portion of their groceries and rationed the remainder as a result of they had been so fearful in regards to the future and fearful that deliveries might be blocked once more.

Israel, which controls support entry into Gaza, briefly suspended deliveries in response to Sunday’s violence. Deliveries resumed on Monday, after robust worldwide stress.

Israel launched a navy marketing campaign in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 assault, by which Hamas-led gunmen killed round 1,200 folks and took one other 251 hostage.

At the least 68,216 folks have been killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since then, based on the territory’s Hamas-run Ministry of Well being.